Soooo....

I had my interview for Physician Assistant school today - I've been anxious for it for the last few weeks because it my last step in the application process. I'm happy its over because now the entire situation is out of my hands and I feel that up to this point I've done everything I could to form the strongest application possible, and if it doesnt work out, well, I guess it wasnt meant to be the right move in the first place.

...But this means I can get excited for break and next semester even moreso! I have two more finals which I do need to put in a good honest amount of studying, but after that interview everything else seems so minor. I'll see my sister in four days and be home in six, for which I'm so excited that thoughts of Rome are not often. That just means my break is going to fly by and before I know it I'll be on a plane! Business has been taken care of, now its almost time to relax for, well, about 8 months :-D !!

PS - A few days ago in Milwaukee it was the coldest I'd ever felt it outside in my life...-20 below with wind chill. Here's a picture of my weather tracker, although I forgot to take a picture when it said -1.

I've got to admit its getting better, a little better all the time

It's starting to feel kind of weird knowing I won't be returning to Marquette next semester. I hope I'm not dragging this issue out too much, but my flurry of excitement has definitely cooled and now I'm just starting to feel very odd about leaving. I'm bad at saying goodbye normally, but I just dont know what to say to people, and I'm definitely gonna have a hard time being away from this place for so long. I'm applying for a position on Orientation Staff that will allow me to be out here for a couple weeks this summer, but even so I will not see most of my friends and I may not even get the position. I feel like I'm looking forward to 1000 different things: a break from school work, the road trip home with my sister, seeing family/friends/Irondequoit for the first time in a while, a few weeks to just relax with friends, Christmas and the entire christmas season, New Years and reflecting on this past year, seeing my nieces and nephews, finding out about PA school, and of course leaving for Rome. But, I think thats why I'm feeling somewhat overrun right now is because it hit me that I'm leaving so soon and I'm not ready and I really don't want the semester to end. So much changed for me in a positive way and Marquette took on a completely new feel, and I'm extremely bummed out about saying goodbye.

Likewise, I just listed tons of different things that I have to look forward to, so I'll end that negative post.

PA interview on Monday! I'm excited for it because this is something I've wanted for a while, but I'm tremendously nervous knowing that so much rides on it.

Pick-me-up

For all you non D'Arienzo's who need a pick me up or an energy boost during this busy time of year. Don't you wish you could look this comfortable? (starring Jake Buckpitt, my nephew)

Ya never slow down, ya never grow old

Six weeks from yesterday!

Current daydreams: stepping off the plane and looking around, Italian women's accents, the infamous gelato I continue to hear about, an insane soccer game, Phish European tour '10

I don't have much to update on right now because until I get back home I can't prepare much more, but I see the next six weeks unfolding like this: 3 more weeks of school and intense work for finals flying by, and 3 weeks home flying by because of excitement over first visit home since summer. Gonna be one of those getting dropped off at the airport and "where did the last few months go and what am I getting myself into" moments, dont ya think?

August 21, the day I left to come to school this year, till May 15, when I return from Rome is 267 days. In that span, 22 days will be spent at home. Why didn't anyone warn me that one minute you're an adult all of a sudden and your childhood days drop off a cliff? Its sure been a fun ride though.

I hope everyone is starting to feel the christmas spirit, or in my case has been in it for a week now. Streaming christmas music rocks...

Orientation

So, the study abroad preparation process is horrible, almost bad enough to consider not dealing with it at all. Our initial applications were due October 1, so the paperwork and essays for that were due then, then we got accepted through Marquette, then we had to do more paperwork to get accepted through our host institution, and in the mean time prepping the paperwork for our Visa. The Visa application process is one of my worst experiences with Marquette yet. It was very disorganized for a process so minute and specific. You must apply directly at the Italian consulate in Chicago, a task much more difficult for us out of state folk. There were about 30 pieces of paper to gather, get notarized, make photocopies, get signed by parents. We had to wait to get papers from the host school to do most of it as well. Luckily, someone from the consulate came to Marquette for a two hour span so everyone was pressured to have everything ready by then in order to avoid the Chicago trip. Of course, with such a strict deadline, everything possible went wrong: parents had to overnight important papers, forms weren't mailed out and hours were spent on the phone and email, things were lost, and tons of money was spent just rounding out the essentials of the application (a student visa is "free"). All in all, everything got together in time for the lady coming here and I am all applied. Now with my flight, passport, visa in process, and registered for classes, I'm a few pieces of paperwork away from being officially ready to head out! What a relief, I never thought this situation would drag on all semester. I guess hanging out in Europe for 4 months kind of makes up for it though...

We had a mandatory study abroad orientation last saturday, 6 hours of informative over-bearing Marquette administrative seminars. Some was helpful and made me think positively on aspects that I need to consider and prepare before my trip. Others freaked me out, and bureaucratic crap like surveys and goal establishing just dragged the day on longer (stop trying so hard Office of Student Development!). In the end, I realized this is something I'm not ready for. I have no experience in such a travel environment, I try and cut financial corners to save money which makes everything harder, and I've had too busy of a semester to sit down and contemplate what I'm really about to do. After talking to friends and parents, I feel more able to just relax and go for it, take it as it comes and know that everything will work out. The things I don't know, I'll learn, and it'll add to the experience that much more. I met some people in my program, and I'm excited to get to know them better because we will probably be spending a lot of time together. My Italian TA is a sophomore and is going to the other program, John Cabot, and he is organization man and already has trips and events planned out, so I'm fully planning on latching onto him :-).

I fly out January 12th from Syracuse to Chicago where I'll meet up with 2 other kids from the program and then we fly to Heathrow and then Rome and will move into JFRC the night of the 13th and hang around a day before orientation starts the 15th. Semester ends April 29th, but my return flight is booked home for May 15th out of Rome, so I have two unplanned weeks to adventure! Two good friends from Irondequoit, Kristin Bell and Alli Haag, will be studying in France and end at the same time, so we will meet up and backpack and we all fly out the same day.

As it stands now, I simply cant wait. I have no idea what to expect and I have no idea how I'll react. I think I'll freak out originally but I know I'll relax after a week or so. The logistics of cultural differences, packing, booking trips and traveling are the things that worry me most, which I'm more comfortable with adapting to than reservations towards the language or experience as a whole. I'm sitting at work rounding out my 50 hour paycheck period (score!) and realizing how hard it will be to suppress these thoughts and thoughts of Christmas and home in order to focus on finals. Honestly, as I write this, I'm feeling more excited than I have yet, maybe realizing how real this truly is.

In the spirit of the week, I am monumentally grateful that this opportunity is something that I get to take advantage of, and that I have the academic flexibility, financial means, support from all, and general drive to do this. I've been blessed, and thats something I will continuously reflect on. Peace.

JFRC and Schedule

The John Felice Rome Center is a fully equipped American campus that sits atop a city right outside of Rome, and the city center and Vatican is about a 15 minutes bus ride or 30 minute walk away. The campus is fairly small, 5 acres, and from what I've gathered the dorms, dining hall, and classrooms are all in one building, so that is very convenient. It is located in a somewhat upscale neighborhood, and is 5 minutes from the former Olympic village. About 220 students attend the Rome Center. Normally, Marquette only sends two students a year, but this year there are 11 of us going, and the overall numbers accepted by them have burgeoned so suddenly that administration had to rent out a floor of a nearby hotel to act as a residence hall for a select group of students. Another Marquette program in Rome, John Cabot University, is directly in downtown Rome, and more people elect for that over JFRC. I chose JFRC because I heard it was more organized and offered more administrative help, and I wanted some type of comfort zone during this transition that already is going to be very tough. Also, I simply pay Marquette tuition and all financial aid directly transfers, so while I dont have a fantastic financial aid package and probably could have found something cheaper, I went with convenience and ease. Also, I had the feeling that JFRC would be much more like Marquette and Cabot would be more similar to a public university, and I'm very much adapted to Marquette's helpful hand in alot of matters.

All my classes are taught in Italian and I'll be studying with new semester kids and whole year kids that are studying abroad in Rome. I was hoping only 2 Marquette students were accepted so I could meet new people, but in the end I think its better that more are going so I can have more people to relate to originally but still reach out to many others.

Many of the classes are on sight, and the others are taught in the same complex as where I'll be living. There are no classes on Fridays and all of my classes are pass/fail! How wonderful is that? I already didnt need to kill myself over work because my prerequisites for PA are done so these are all basically electives, but now its even less so. I'm very interested in most of my classes, and I cant see myself blowing them off anyway, so it'll be nice to still work hard and get work done but without the overarching stress of it all. I'm taking five classes:

I missed out on alot of the awesome classes like Food and Wines of Italy because my registration time was when I was driving to a Phish concert (I'll take that trade off). Topography and Art are on-site, so we walk around the city and the professor points various things out. The literature class is the only one that I needed to take to fill one last prerequisite at Marquette, and aesthetics is the philosophy of beauty which sounds interesting. The film class I might drop, but as of now I think I'll try it out, mostly because I feel guilty only taking 12 credits. I only have one class on Monday and Wednesday and its not till afternoon, nice! Tuesdays and Thursdays start early but those are my two favorite classes, and then my literature class later, and if I hang onto it the film one at night. Looks like a pretty decent schedule to me.

This post has been long enough, I'll update you on the study abroad orientation that was held last week some other time!
Peace

First Post

So this is the blog that I'll be utilizing starting in January when I begin my adventure in Rome, and I'll be updating it fairly constantly throughout the semester and into May. I'm going to post it on my Facebook and email it out to my family members, however if you know of anyone that would be interested in following my posts, please send this link to them; I would like to share with as many people as possible. The slideshow at the bottom is inactive as of now, but once I start taking pictures I can upload them right onto an online album which will feed directly to this slideshow. Also, my pictures will be available online.

I've never created and updated my own blog before, so I hope that it is fairly organized and user friendly. I'll be keeping everyone up to date on my studies, my trips, my stories, and my trials, and I would always love to hear your comments.

Once again, I thank everyone for taking a genuine interest in this blog as well as my travels, and hopefully through this medium we can feel a little more connected during our long span apart. I'll be posting some information later about the school I'll be attending and what the study abroad process has looked like so far during my preparation stage! See ya!

Zach